Israel is paying through the nose for US aid and would better off without it, says a researcher for the Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies (JIMS).

American aid to Israel to the tune of $3 billion a year has been maligned by many U.S. conservatives and by the Arab world, but Israel actually loses more than it receives, according to JIMS analyst Yarden Gazit.

%u201CU.S. aid is a net loss for Israel and Israel would be better off without it,%u201D he concluded in his report, released on Wednesday.

Gazit explained that the conditions for the military assistance are designed to help the American military-industrial complex at the expense of the Israeli defense industry.

One condition of the American aid to Israel is that three-quarters of the grant be spent in the United States.